[1:00:00] capital projects designed to keep the airport operational every single day. And that body of

[1:00:03] work allowed us to understand what the high level estimated costs were going to be

[1:00:04] over the next few years. We also started our full scale long-term master plan body

[1:00:08] of work last year and I'll talk a bit more about that at the

[1:00:13] end of the presentation. And just to clarify, as of today and ongoing,

[1:00:17] Sudbury Airport is self-funded. So we use our

[1:00:21] revenues to fund our capital and if we don't have the funds or we don't

[1:00:25] have enough money to fund the capital,

[1:00:29] we then borrow money to fund

[1:00:33] the rest. Okay. So just to talk a bit more about Sudbury

[1:00:38] Airport's approach to capital, there are three key categories that we like

[1:00:41] to use to shape our capital needs. The first one is what

[1:00:47] I've talked about, which is the baseline capital. This is

[1:00:51] all of the capital required to ensure that

[1:00:54] our infrastructure excuse me, our infrastructure is safe for daily operational.

[1:00:58] So rehabilitation of runways, of taxiways, you know, equipment replacement,

[1:01:03] et cetera. And these are the

[1:01:08] types of projects that we could apply for funding for a portion of

[1:01:12] it through ACAP. The middle box reflects those projects that have a strong ROI that

[1:01:14] will generate incremental revenue for the airport. So projects like land development, as an example.

[1:01:18] While we will have to invest dollars to get lands ready, we do anticipate strong

[1:01:22] returns on that investment. And I'll talk a bit about that later

[1:01:26] on. And then the last bucket, which I'm not going to talk

[1:01:30] about today, is an output or a byproduct of our master plan.

[1:01:34] And this is going to showcase what our long-term capital planning cycle could look like

[1:01:38] anywhere beyond 10 years up to 30 years. And this will shape

[1:01:42] or will reflect capacity constraints

[1:01:45] as we grow and will showcase what are the large

[1:01:49] scale capital infrastructure requirements such as terminal expansion, runway expansions, areas that require

[1:01:53] significant investment, but also will meet the needs of

[1:01:59] significant growth in the long term future.

[1:02:03] All right, so we're going

[1:02:08] to take a look at that first bucket,

[1:02:12] which is our baseline capital.

[1:02:15] Those dollars tied to our daily infrastructure.

[1:02:19] And this is an output of

[1:02:23] the work that we did last year to assess our five year capital plan.

[1:02:26] And overall, over the next five

[1:02:31] year period, we have a gross estimate of $22 million in capital requirements. And I

[1:02:34] say gross because this does not consider any

[1:02:39] potential third party funding from ACAP or any

[1:02:43] other body. The largest project

[1:02:47] within that five-year period is our secondary runway rehabilitation scheduled for late 2028 into 2029,

[1:02:50] which represents roughly 40% of this entire capital outlook over the next few years.

[1:02:51] Next to the blue columns, the blue column represents

[1:02:59] the capital requirement, are the orange columns

[1:03:08] on that chart. And that orange column represents those capital projects

[1:03:12] that are eligible for ACAP funding. We may not get it, but we can apply

[1:03:15] for ACAP funding. And we anticipate that over the next five years,

[1:03:19] 60 to 70% of our projects will

[1:03:24] be eligible. We are going

[1:03:28] to submit applications for through the federal

[1:03:32] government. Of those projects that are eligible,

[1:03:36] if all are accepted, by ACAP, we anticipate 50 to 60% of those dollars being

[1:03:40] covered by a third party, by the federal government. So when I

[1:03:44] say gross, we don't anticipate spending 22

[1:03:49] million, but that is the overall encompassing amount for

[1:03:53] the capital plan for the next five

[1:03:58] years. That being said, we have employed a very strategic approach to

[1:04:03] our capital plan over the last three,

[1:04:05] three and a half years in

[1:04:10] that if those capital projects that are ACAP eligible do not get funded by Transport

[1:04:15] Canada, we assess the asset. And if we can maintain the asset in a safe

[1:04:18] fashion, we will defer the capital spend until we get ACAP

[1:04:23] dollars or until we absolutely have to reinvest those dollars.

[1:04:26] So that has worked for us in the last three and a half years and

[1:04:29] it allowed us to maintain our capital spend in a very

[1:04:33] reasonable level. So this slide here just showcases

[1:04:37] how we then allocate our capital dollars, what the categories

[1:04:42] are. So there's five key categories within our

[1:04:47] baseline capital planning. The first one being

[1:04:51] under airside infrastructure, as you can see,

[1:04:56] it's the largest component of the PIE. And this

[1:04:59] is all

[1:05:03] of the assets that are on the secure side of the airport, our runways,

[1:05:07] our terminals, anything that requires the operation of an aircraft post-security.

[1:05:11] And this is the largest component because of that secondary runway rehab

[1:05:16] that falls within this category. The second bucket is

[1:05:20] equipment. So all of our specialty

[1:05:23] equipment required to operate the airport,

[1:05:28] snow removal equipment, aircraft rescue and firefighting equipment,

[1:05:32] anything that is specialty to the airport that is high dollar value falls under equipment.

[1:05:35] Building infrastructure reflects all of the

[1:05:41] buildings that the airport owns. It's our job

[1:05:45] to ensure that those buildings are maintained and that those capital

[1:05:50] requirements are dealt with. Landside infrastructure is all of the assets

[1:05:55] that are located on the non-secure side of the airport. So our parking lots,

[1:05:58] our roadways, car rental parking lots, et cetera. Those will fall under

[1:06:02] this particular category. And lastly, passenger experience is all of

[1:06:05] the infrastructure to ensure that that journey for passengers is seamless.

[1:06:09] Last year and a half, we expanded our hold room as an example.

[1:06:13] That was a requirement because we were reaching

[1:06:18] capacity in that space, but it made the experience

[1:06:21] better for passengers as they flow through our airport.

[1:06:24] Things like accessibility and accessibility improvements through the airport would

[1:06:28] fall under this category. All right, this particular slide is going to

[1:06:32] showcase that second bucket of capital work, those capital projects

[1:06:37] that do have an ROI or a

[1:06:41] business case tied to it. This is a project that is

[1:06:45] currently underway. I think I have shared this

[1:06:49] in other discussions, but this is our Parcel P6 land development

[1:06:53] project. And Parcel P6 is going to unlock roughly 30 acres of land for

[1:06:57] development that will allow us to attract new tenants, new companies to work out of

[1:07:01] our airport and lease lands that will generate more revenues for the airport so that

[1:07:04] we can find these capital, additional capital projects. I'm referring

[1:07:09] to the areas in the red boxes for the sake of

[1:07:14] this conversation. And so this project is going to include an extension

[1:07:18] of the taxiway, new taxi lines, it's going to include

[1:07:22] new roadways, services to the parcels of land, and we anticipate this

[1:07:26] costing anywhere from $7 to $8 million. We are working closely

[1:07:30] with FedNor and NOHFC for third

[1:07:34] party funding and that body of work is currently underway. This will,

[1:07:38] like I said, generate incremental revenues for the airport,

[1:07:41] but will drive more jobs. We'll bring in

[1:07:46] new companies into Sudbury. We do have our at least

[1:07:50] 12,000 square metres of that parcel of land committed to a partner that is going

[1:07:54] to generate more business for the aviation

[1:07:58] community and the region at large.

[1:08:02] Okay. So, I'm going to take

[1:08:07] the last couple of minutes of the presentation to talk about our

[1:08:11] master planning cycle. So, last year we started

[1:08:15] this body of work. We felt it was important to have a

[1:08:19] good outlook or a clear outlook on what the long-term capital requirements are going to

[1:08:23] look like for numerous reasons, one of which is how

[1:08:27] are we going to fund this long term should the event

[1:08:31] come up or should the needs generate. It's going to act as a blueprint for

[1:08:35] the airport, for us as the management team, and guide us

[1:08:39] on how our capital plans will look like, like I said, in that long term

[1:08:40] period. It is going to include various

[1:08:44] things like passenger and airline demand. It's going to allow us

[1:08:48] to optimize operations and understand capacity constraints and how to address

[1:08:52] those capacity constraints as we grow. It's going

[1:08:56] to help us invest responsibly in these projects and also allow us to

[1:09:01] get ahead of regulatory requirements and community needs as we build

[1:09:04] this out. So our master plan is going to

[1:09:09] encompass several different factors and

[1:09:15] aspects of the plan. We are going to look at long-term demand

[1:09:20] forecasts. And that's going to be critical

[1:09:23] for us because that will indicate or showcase where our capacity constraints really are.

[1:09:27] Is it a check in? Is it in parking? Is our terminal too small to

[1:09:29] accommodate the long term growth again beyond ten years

[1:09:33] up to 30 years? It's also going to identify those

[1:09:37] critical infrastructure development projects. Do we need to extend our

[1:09:41] runway? Do we need to extend our taxiway? Do we need to build brand new

[1:09:45] buildings to support this growth? It'll identify for us those

[1:09:50] large-scale capital bodies of work. Not only that, it's also going to help us understand

[1:09:53] the dollars required, but also get us ready for third-party grants,

[1:09:57] right? Who's going to help us fund this? Federal government, you know,

[1:10:01] there are different avenues that have been launched

[1:10:05] that could help feed into this

[1:10:09] over the next 30 years. And lastly, a piece that

[1:10:13] we feel is incredibly important is the economic impact study that's

[1:10:17] going to come out of this master plan. The Sudbury

[1:10:21] Airport has a large impact on the region and

[1:10:25] we want to identify and quantify what that looks like.

[1:10:30] That's going to help us support those longer term funding applications

[1:10:35] moving forward. So this priority of work is intended to be completed by late this

[1:10:39] year, early next with the goal to have it

[1:10:43] presented back to our board and council next year. All right.

[1:10:47] Thank you. Any questions? Thank you so much. I'll open

[1:10:51] up the floor to questions or comments.

[1:10:55] Who wants to lead off? Sorry,

[1:10:58] Councillor Fortin, followed by Councillor McIntosh.

[1:11:03] And I see Councillor Leduc has

[1:11:06] his hand up

[1:11:10] as well. Okay, go ahead. Thank you. And through you, Chair, when you spoke about

[1:11:13] the ACAP loans, and you said it went from 36 to 50, was it an

[1:11:16] increase of 50 or a total of

[1:11:21] 50 now? It's a total of just over

[1:11:26] 50. It's roughly 52 million. May I second that?

[1:11:30] Please go ahead, yeah. Thank you. When you were talking about what's available for

[1:11:34] these grants and you're talking about like behind

[1:11:38] security upgrades from NAV Canada. Would that be something that we have to fund through

[1:11:40] Sudbury Airport or is that covered by the federal government?

[1:11:44] So it depends on what it is that needs to be upgraded.

[1:11:48] So typically NAV Canada, CATSA, all of the government

[1:11:52] agencies will fund their own infrastructure and upgrade

[1:11:57] those infrastructure pieces. However, if there are

[1:12:01] elements that need to change from our physical

[1:12:04] infrastructure terminal facility, we are responsible. So I'll give

[1:12:09] you an example. So the

[1:12:13] larger airports have CATS A+, the longer,

[1:12:17] larger screening systems. We have an older version. So as they look to upgrade

[1:12:21] across all airports, they will fund the system, the installation,

[1:12:24] but if we have to get the

[1:12:28] physical facility ready for that piece, we have to fund that.

[1:12:33] Thank you. One more follow-up. One final question.

[1:12:37] When you talk about the runways rehabilitation,

[1:12:41] what are we looking at? Is it just like a shaven pave?

[1:12:45] Or are we talking about more structural than that?

[1:12:49] Well, so there's various options that we

[1:12:53] can look at. On an interim basis until we have

[1:12:57] to get to the point where we have to spend that

[1:13:01] 12 and a half million, we are shaving and patching, which falls within the engineered

[1:13:05] drawing package and keeps the airport safe and operational. Long term, when we get to

[1:13:09] the end state, we'll have to do a full shave

[1:13:14] and repaving of the terminal, which is why it's so costly.

[1:13:18] And that also includes having to address

[1:13:24] the lighting system at that point, right? There's different pieces within the

[1:13:29] runway that are affected when you're doing a full rehab, which is why it's so

[1:13:31] costly. Thank you. Councillor McIntosh, followed by Councillor Leduc. Go ahead.

[1:13:35] I don't have a question, so perhaps

[1:13:39] Councillor Leduc might like to go first and

[1:13:43] then-- Thank you. I have a comment, thank you. Okay, Councillor Leduc, please go ahead.

[1:13:46] Thank you very much for the presentation. One of the questions that

[1:13:50] I have to ask is that, and I've

[1:13:54] had the opportunity to be in several of the Northern

[1:13:58] Ontario airports, and I've noticed that,

[1:14:02] for an example, the Thunder Bay Airport, which seems to

[1:14:06] be a much larger airport and a much more thriving airport. And I'm

[1:14:10] just trying to understand the difference between our Sudbury airport where we're known

[1:14:14] as the the hub of the north and we have all

[1:14:18] these mining companies in Sudbury. So I'm just trying

[1:14:23] to understand the difference between the Thunder

[1:14:26] Bay airport and our Sudbury airport, if you

[1:14:30] could explain that. Sure. Thank you. Just go ahead, Mr. Early. Thank you. The biggest

[1:14:34] difference is proximity to the hubs. So the way regional airports

[1:14:39] work is they feed large airports. So in

[1:14:43] Ontario, our hub airport is Toronto Pearson, followed by

[1:14:56] Ottawa, we'll say. The destination or the distance, excuse me, from those hub airports will

[1:14:59] indicate where these airlines truly invest their growth strategies. Thunder Bay is an 18 hour

[1:15:02] drive from Toronto. The demand for traffic is incredibly significant and it's not just Thunder

[1:15:05] Bay, it's the entire region. Sudbury airport, we're only three and a half hours from

[1:15:08] Toronto Pearson, and we

[1:15:12] have a highway that has become quite drivable. So we always say the highway is

[1:15:15] our biggest competition. Having said that though, I will say that the routes that

[1:15:20] have come to Sudbury over the

[1:15:24] last 12 to 18 months are routes that have entered

[1:15:28] our market because these airlines are starting to see that The

[1:15:34] community is using the service, right? If we're not using the

[1:15:39] service, the airlines will not invest their

[1:15:44] dollars here. But they're starting to do that. We're starting

[1:15:48] to see expanded service here in Sudbury. Thunder Bay being as far as it is,

[1:15:51] they're always going to need that level of service, if not more. Thank you.

[1:15:53] We have a follow-up, Councillor Leduc. I have two other questions. You were, and you

[1:15:56] chair, you were talking, Regarding when, when Councillor Forte had

[1:15:59] asked about whether it would be a shave and

[1:16:04] pave and you said that the runway was going to be a very costly expense.

[1:16:08] And I know from past research, a company such as

[1:16:13] eco pay, which is located out in, in Western Canada,

[1:16:16] that specializes actually in, in runways.

[1:16:20] So have you considered When looking

[1:16:25] at doing the runway here in Sudbury, have you

[1:16:29] considered that type of technology moving

[1:16:34] forward? Future. Thank you, Ms. Ralli. So we are at the stage where

[1:16:38] we just completed the assessment and the engineer drawing package.

[1:16:42] We are not at the stage of RFPing or assessing

[1:16:46] companies because we are not planning this until 2028-2029. When the time comes

[1:16:50] though, we will absolutely explore all technologies, all avenues

[1:16:54] available to ensure that we look

[1:16:58] at the most cost effective way of doing this for the

[1:17:02] airport. Thank you. One last one. Yes, one last one.

[1:17:07] So with the latest announcement from Porter Airlines

[1:17:11] pulling out of Sudbury as of May 1st,

[1:17:14] can you explain to us, to the public more as

[1:17:20] to why Porter has decided to pull out a Sudbury because there's a lot of,

[1:17:24] I guess, misinformation out there as to potentially that

[1:17:29] at one time they were renting

[1:17:32] a hangar, Sudbury Airport, pulled that hanger away, gave it

[1:17:37] to Orange. Orange is now

[1:17:41] in Ottawa, apparently. And Porter has kind of lost interest

[1:17:44] in Sudbury. So could you go into a little further detail for the public through

[1:17:48] you? Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Verling. Can you maybe provide some clarity on what's

[1:17:52] going on? Absolutely. So just first and foremost, Porter is not leaving Sudbury.

[1:17:57] Yes. So Porter is changing their route from Sudbury to

[1:18:02] Billy Bishop to Sudbury direct to Ottawa starting in May. So they are not leaving

[1:18:04] Sudbury. They have no interest in leaving Sudbury. They are committed to

[1:18:08] our community. The reason they have made that change is

[1:18:12] because, again, if any, like any business,

[1:18:15] if people aren't using the service and it's not viable or sustainable or financially,

[1:18:19] if they're not making money off that route, they have to look at alternate options.

[1:18:24] For them, moving to Ottawa was the most logical Next Step.

[1:18:27] In addition to that, Porter,

[1:18:32] we did, we did not kick Porter out

[1:18:36] of any hanger. Porter has invested significant money in Ottawa making Ottawa their hub airport.

[1:18:39] So they have a massive maintenance facility there. They have

[1:18:44] expanded routes and their goal, like most airlines,

[1:18:47] is to feed their hub airport.

[1:18:50] That includes the service from Sudbury. So they're taking that

[1:18:55] service from Sudbury and feeding their hub airport in Ottawa.

[1:18:59] And what that does for the community is it actually gives people more choice to

[1:19:02] connect onwards if you don't want to fly through Toronto Pearson.

[1:19:06] That is actually a win for our community because we're diversifying choice for the

[1:19:10] community, for the passengers, anyone who wants to fly

[1:19:15] through our airport. So while off the bat it might

[1:19:19] be viewed that we're losing Billy Bishop, we're actually

[1:19:23] gaining another hub airport that has even greater route selection and connection

[1:19:27] selection for our community base here in

[1:19:31] Sidney. Thank you. All right, we have Councillor Singer

[1:19:35] ready for our next questions, comments? Yes,

[1:19:39] just one

[1:19:43] question and one comment. So on your slide, slide 11,

[1:19:46] you were talking about the revenue growth for the parcel P6 land.

[1:19:51] Can you, it's showing that And I know

[1:19:55] there's a return on investment. I know it's hard to read

[1:20:00] the small print, but I know you're investing

[1:20:04] 7.5 million. What does that look like for return on investment?

[1:20:08] Can you just elaborate, if you don't mind,

[1:20:12] Mr. Chair? Thank you. So I'll get you the numbers, Councillor Sinuocchi, it is

[1:20:16] a positive ROI or else you would not have moved forward on this. I just

[1:20:19] don't have those numbers directly in front of me, but Happy to

[1:20:23] get them if you're interested to know that. Thank you.

[1:20:27] Thank you. And just one comment, Mr. Mayor. It's exciting

[1:20:31] times for the airport. Look at the innovation,

[1:20:35] the money that, yes, you have to spend

[1:20:39] money to make money. So I guess from my perspective, I'm looking forward to seeing

[1:20:43] what that, how that unfolds and how that will

[1:20:47] showcase even Surrey even more and the projected parcels of land that you've identified

[1:20:51] that are going to be fully leased and potentials for future development.

[1:20:55] So I'm excited for that and look forward to

[1:21:00] anything we can do as a council to

[1:21:05] assist with anything. So thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you

[1:21:10] so much. I have Council Laundrie Allman. Let's go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[1:21:13] Thank you for the presentation. I agree, it certainly is exciting, but my questions are

[1:21:17] this. It's about service that exists presently with Air

[1:21:21] Canada. Are we looking at an increase? And also with the Ottawa route,

[1:21:25] I thought there was a smaller airline that was also

[1:21:30] going to start the service between Sudbury and Ottawa.

[1:21:33] Could you clarify, please? Sure. Thank you. Thank you. Go ahead.

[1:21:38] So I'll answer your first question about Air Canada.

[1:21:42] So Air Canada, as of February 1st, has gone from two flights daily

[1:21:46] with a third flight three days a week to three flights

[1:21:50] daily seven days a week. So we've seen that increase as,

[1:21:54] yep. And so you've got more span of

[1:21:59] selection throughout the day now. So we're very excited about

[1:22:02] that. That's again started February 1st. Yes, to answer your question,

[1:22:06] we have a small airline, Propair, that in November launched

[1:22:10] direct to Ottawa, onwards to Montreal,

[1:22:15] and in Montreal you could connect onwards to Quebec City. They are going

[1:22:19] to continue that route. They feel very confident. It is a different customer base

[1:22:23] for Propair than it is for Porter. Propair, it is someone who wants to go

[1:22:27] in and out of those destinations either

[1:22:31] for a day

[1:22:36] or that is their end destination.

[1:22:41] It's typically your business traveller or those individuals that want to do a quick jaunt

[1:22:43] over to those cities. With Porter, their largest target market is going to be the

[1:22:46] connecting customer base. Having said that, when you work with small regional

[1:22:51] airlines like Propair, they are much more nimble than a larger

[1:22:55] carrier. So they can adapt and shift their service to meet the needs of the

[1:22:58] community. I'm not going to go into too much details because it's not finalised

[1:23:02] yet, but they are going to work to help

[1:23:06] us fill some of the gaps that we have recently talked about in terms

[1:23:12] of service. Perfect. Wonderful. Thank you. Okay.

[1:23:16] And may I have, may I ask another question?

[1:23:21] Please, for sure. Thank you. The age-old question. Of customs and

[1:23:25] holiday travel out of Sudbury. Do we have any kind of update, please? Thank you.

[1:23:28] Thank you. Yes. So we don't have customs and it's not in

[1:23:32] the near term. And there's a few reasons for that. Number one,

[1:23:36] we don't have the airlines who are interested in launching international service

[1:23:41] just yet. It doesn't mean it's not going to

[1:23:44] happen, but we don't have the service here in Sudbury.

[1:23:49] In addition to that, with the constraints of federal government and Transport Canada and these

[1:23:52] agencies, those cost burdens get pushed down to the airport to launch a

[1:23:57] customs. Doesn't mean that we wouldn't do it if the business case didn't

[1:24:01] make sense, if we didn't have the demand for it.

[1:24:05] We just don't have the airlines who are going to be

[1:24:09] launching an international flight at this

[1:24:13] moment in time. Thank you. Seeing no other questions,

[1:24:17] I have a comment or certainly a motion by Councillor McIntosh, please go ahead.

[1:24:21] Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you so much for this presentation. It's exactly what

[1:24:24] I was looking for when I requested that the airport board come and make a

[1:24:28] presentation to us. Last month we discussed and approved an airport debt strategy,

[1:24:32] and we're entering into an agreement with the airport to be

[1:24:36] able to loan the money from the municipality to do this capital

[1:24:40] work. And at the time I couldn't articulate what

[1:24:44] exactly I was looking for. I'm ready

[1:24:48] now and I have a motion to present this evening. It will be

[1:24:52] seconded by Councillor Perron who's on the airport board that will address,

[1:24:57] will ask, it's basically asking that a presentation, this kind of detail

[1:25:01] of the debt and the capital

[1:25:06] plan, the five year capital plan going forward and how,

[1:25:09] what the debt what the debt with the city

[1:25:13] is sitting at on an annual basis when they come to us for the AGM.

[1:25:16] So we'll get that kind of a presentation, this kind

[1:25:20] of a presentation along with the other stuff. I think

[1:25:24] that was like an AGM presentation actually. So thank you. So I just want

[1:25:29] to put, I'd like to see us have it in the agreement

[1:25:34] that it'll be a part of the AGM, that the five-year capital plan and what

[1:25:38] the current state of the debt is and what the debt would be coming so

[1:25:42] that no one can say 10, 15 years from

[1:25:47] now, I didn't know what

[1:25:52] was happening at the airport. So I think that that's,

[1:25:55] so I have a motion that they can put up and I hope you can

[1:25:57] support this. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Clerk,

[1:26:01] do you wish to, I know this has been circulated, Do you wish to have

[1:26:03] it read? No, just the operative clause would be plenty.

[1:26:08] I think it's kind of legalistic, the whereases, but the operative piece

[1:26:11] would be plenty, thank you. All right, therefore, Mr. Clerk. Thank you,

[1:26:15] Mr. Mayor. So I understand that motion to be seconded by Councillor

[1:26:19] Pera. That's right. The operative clause reads,

[1:26:23] therefore be it resolved that the City of Greater Sudbury directs that the SACDC shall

[1:26:27] provide to council city of Greater

[1:26:33] Sudbury at its annual General meeting of the shareholder of the SACDC,

[1:26:36] particulars of the total amounts outstanding, repayment amounts of the loans and a five-year capital

[1:26:38] forecast with amounts intended to be financed through the long-term facility. Okay, so we have

[1:26:42] a motion on the floor. Any questions or comments?

[1:26:48] I got Councillor Pera. Please go ahead. Thank you, three, Mr. Mayor. Just to support

[1:26:52] my colleague, Councillor McIntosh, as Councillor Laduke suggested, there are members in our community

[1:26:56] that thrive on spreading misinformation and this is an

[1:27:00] opportunity that annually we can receive all of the facts of what are the plans

[1:27:04] for the airport, the amount of the cost and I think for members of council

[1:27:07] be well informed so that they can ensure that, you know,

[1:27:10] the appropriate information is circulating through our community. So thank

[1:27:14] you, Councillor McIntosh, for preparing this resolution. Thank you. Any further questions or comments with

[1:27:16] respect to the motion? Seeing none, I will call the

[1:27:20] vote all in favor. That is carried. Thank you.

[1:27:24] Thank you Mr. Reilly for the presentation. We'll see you soon. Thanks everyone. All right

[1:27:28] next up on the agenda we have a consent agenda it'll be moved by Councillor

[1:27:30] Cormier seconded by Councillor Benoit.

[1:27:35] Thank you Mr. Mayor that the City of Greater

[1:27:41] Sudbury approves consent agenda item 7.1.1 to 7.2.5. All in favour that is carried thank

[1:27:46] you. Next up presentation we have Ms. Babin Fenske

[1:27:50] will come up and present to us

[1:27:54] our climate action annual

[1:27:59] report for

[1:28:04] 2024. Good to see you again. Welcome. Thank you.

[1:28:08] Great. I believe I have some slides.

[1:28:13] Okay. So while this This comes up. Thank you very much for having me.

[1:28:17] I'm going to see if this works. Should I be pointing here? Oh,

[1:28:21] right, it's down. It's written right

[1:28:26] there in front of me. Thank you. So I do like to start these presentations

[1:28:27] with a reminder that we, while we use the terms climate change mitigation and

[1:28:31] adaptation, I recognise that some people prefer the terms efficiency and resilience.

[1:28:36] Our climate change mitigation plan

[1:28:40] is our SEAP. Our Community Energy and Emissions Plan, and it's about being efficient,

[1:28:46] reducing our fossil fuel usage, reducing our costs for energy use. Our Community

[1:28:50] Climate Change Adaptation Plan, or CCAP, is about being resilient,

[1:28:54] so trying to prepare for weather and natural

[1:28:59] events like wildland fire, flooding, heat waves,

[1:29:03] and events like that, and trying to save on costs, save on health care,

[1:29:07] on repairs, and costs on repairs, if we're better

[1:29:11] prepared and suffer less damage. So this slide is a pie chart of the entire

[1:29:15] community greenhouse gas emissions with one piece of the pie to show

[1:29:19] the city's municipal emissions in comparison, which is quite small. It's 2%.

[1:29:23] The annual report provides updates for both the city's corporate initiatives as well

[1:29:28] as from the community because our action plans

[1:29:32] are community plans for

[1:29:35] everyone within Greater Sudbury to become more efficient and more resilient.

[1:29:39] The City of Greater Sudbury is only one

[1:29:43] organisation within our community and we continue to

[1:29:47] show leadership alongside others such as post-secondary

[1:29:51] and medical institutions, mining and supply companies, small businesses, school boards, nonprofit organisations, and the

[1:29:56] residents themselves. Each year we

[1:30:00] hope to include a wide range of projects to showcase many of our divisions

[1:30:05] and community groups. So for this annual report staff,

[1:30:09] the city, we don't receive the energy data,

[1:30:13] the utilities data such as Enbridge, GSU and Hydro One. We don't access

[1:30:18] that data until June or July.

[1:30:21] Once it's been reviewed and passed on to our division, it's usually the fall.

[1:30:25] So there is a bit of delay, especially this so

[1:30:29] we are looking at 2024

[1:30:33] accomplishments. So the city accomplishments

[1:30:37] for 2024 are quite diverse and it's exciting to show how

[1:30:41] much we've invested into climate action.

[1:30:45] Transit services, for example, installed solar panel bus shelters. They initiated

[1:30:49] the seniors ride free program. Parks and recreation purchased our first electric Zamboni with the

[1:30:54] savings they're saving they're already moving towards

[1:30:58] purchasing more. Parks and recreation also reduce the

[1:31:03] total carbon footprint of certain playground structures by using

[1:31:06] sustainably sourced engineered wood fibre and recycled rubber or foam in

[1:31:11] the construction. This is an example of not just

[1:31:15] replacing like for like, but looking for innovation, upgrades, and also using

[1:31:19] that climate lens. So the

[1:31:24] investments for climate change adaptation have also been quite significant and they have

[1:31:27] been for many decades, mainly through our water and wastewater services, which managing our infrastructure

[1:31:32] to be better prepared for larger flows during intense

[1:31:36] storms. Each year we also increase our active transportation

[1:31:40] infrastructure for walking, cycling and transit use and continue to

[1:31:44] expand the Paris Notre Dame Bikeway. The Spark Street affordable housing project is

[1:31:49] another example. It's shown more energy savings than expected and we encourage and recommend

[1:31:53] future projects to be even more energy efficient for new builds.

[1:31:58] Especially for our affordable housing efforts in the future since a

[1:32:01] home or apartment that's not energy efficient and costs

[1:32:06] too much to heat or floods

[1:32:10] each year is no longer as affordable. So in general,

[1:32:14] energy efficient and climate resilient homes have been shown to

[1:32:18] be healthier, safer and more affordable living conditions. So we'll continue to combine

[1:32:22] our climate action with affordable housing initiatives. Another example of our efforts for

[1:32:26] climate change adaptation is the hot weather response plan. In the report

[1:32:32] we mentioned in 2024, we had two

[1:32:36] events where we had to enact the response plan

[1:32:40] and issued two heat warnings where our emergency management work hard to prepare residents through

[1:32:43] education and outreach, prepare local agencies as part of the response, and internally we also

[1:32:47] have our library staff participating as our hours may be

[1:32:53] extended since our branches are cooling centres and our lifeguards have extended hours

[1:32:58] as well to provide safe water access to the beaches during these heat waves.

[1:33:02] On the community side, and again because our action plan

[1:33:06] is both community and municipal, action. We have many residents

[1:33:10] and organisations taking action as well. More residents

[1:33:14] are taking the bus and transit ridership reached over 6 million in 2024.

[1:33:18] More residents are growing their own food. We have over 30 community

[1:33:22] gardens. And we had a lot of youth leadership in this year's

[1:33:26] annual report with schools

[1:33:31] and universities that were highlighted, including Laurentian University's nature positive team, Conseil Scolaire Catholique Nouvelon,

[1:33:36] and several individual schools that are mentioned. The community

[1:33:40] has also been involved with waste reduction campaigns and biodiversity monitoring.

[1:33:45] 37 residents have received inflow and infiltration rebates from

[1:33:49] the city, which help reduce flooding and

[1:33:53] basement backups. And we have over

[1:33:57] 1,500 electric vehicles registered in the community.

[1:34:01] So our community groups are very active. I encourage

[1:34:05] everyone to reach out to find a

[1:34:09] volunteer group that matches their interests because Greater Sudbury has

[1:34:14] diverse and very

[1:34:17] active non-profit organisations that are focused on

[1:34:21] environment, sustainability and climate action.

[1:34:25] Now despite all these accomplishments, there's a lot of investment in time, money and

[1:34:30] behavioral changes Both the corporate and community greenhouse gas

[1:34:35] emissions are not reducing fast enough to reach our targets. And I

[1:34:39] want to be very clear that this is not because we're sitting back. Our efforts

[1:34:42] are important and they do make a difference. We're taking action and climate

[1:34:46] change and sustainability are becoming integrated into our lives. And this is an important step

[1:34:49] at the beginning of this climate action journey that we're taking.

[1:34:52] And be assured that most municipalities across Canada are having the same issue.

[1:34:56] So now that we're taking climate change more seriously each

[1:35:00] year with these annual reports and showcasing what's happening in the municipality and community,

[1:35:05] we're looking at what's missing and what can

[1:35:08] we do next. So one contributing factor, which is

[1:35:12] a positive thing, is that our population has been growing. When the SEAP

[1:35:16] was developed in 2019, the population of Greater

[1:35:21] Sudbury was 160,000. And was expected

[1:35:26] to reach 184,000 in 2050.

[1:35:29] With an unexpected population increase, especially since the

[1:35:34] COVID-19 pandemic, Greater Sudbury population has already

[1:35:38] exceeded that, and that impacts our trajectory towards our

[1:35:43] targets. This means we'll have more houses, we'll have more vehicles on the road,

[1:35:47] we'll have more energy used overall. Internally, our own water wastewater services, for example,

[1:35:48] Although they're working to upgrade the equipment,

[1:35:52] make it more efficient, they now need more

[1:35:56] and stronger equipment to accommodate the larger population.

[1:36:01] This doesn't mean we give up and we want to continue to make

[1:36:05] sure that everything becomes more efficient moving forward, even more so,

[1:36:09] knowing that we have new builds that have to happen, making sure everything moving forward

[1:36:12] is that much more efficient. So looking at that first

[1:36:16] graph, graph, the first one on

[1:36:20] the left is corporate emissions. So we explain it in the report.

[1:36:25] The lower, so community waste, primarily landfill waste,

[1:36:29] produces significantly more emissions than corporate activities. And it can overshadow

[1:36:34] the trends. So on this graph, that's why

[1:36:38] we thought it was important to separate the two of them and to show the

[1:36:41] importance of implementing the sustainable waste strategy

[1:36:46] to explore solid waste reduction, diversion, and compost

[1:36:50] initiatives. The smaller trend line, which is on the bottom, those are

[1:36:55] the greenhouse gas emissions for our buildings and vehicles. So the

[1:36:59] key actions for reducing those emissions are upgrading, retrofitting,

[1:37:02] and recommissioning our existing buildings, making sure

[1:37:06] our future buildings are energy efficient net

[1:37:10] zero, near net zero passive, and reducing our liquid fuel as well.

[1:37:13] So in this annual report, we mentioned how

[1:37:19] staff could incorporate the Conservation and

[1:37:25] Demand Management Plan into the Asset Management Plan.

[1:37:29] This will include a dedicated section on

[1:37:33] building retrofits, recommissioning, and tying it into the greenhouse

[1:37:38] gas emissions. This integration would support the prioritization of the upgrades, enhance energy efficient planning,

[1:37:42] and strengthen future funding applications.

[1:37:45] The city does receive funding for some of our

[1:37:49] climate action, and we really hope to prioritize

[1:37:53] and capitalize on future funding opportunities. On the

[1:37:57] community side, the graph on the right, One of the

[1:38:02] new

[1:38:06] programs, and again, we're looking at the different

[1:38:10] aspects of the greenhouse gas, where the greenhouse gases are coming from, the sources of

[1:38:13] them. One of the new programs is our

[1:38:17] home energy retrofit program. It was actually just launched today, CHIRP, Community Home Improvement and

[1:38:21] Resilience Program. And this is to help homeowners navigate the sometimes complicated

[1:38:25] process of retrofitting their homes. So, in summary,

[1:38:28] we have some amazing accomplishments from 2024. There are three

[1:38:34] key next steps, although everyone continues to take action. As you've seen,

[1:38:38] many of our divisions have many innovative actions,

[1:38:42] and you can see them in the report in the

[1:38:47] last action plan, the last few pages of the

[1:38:51] action plan. So we can particularly focus, however, on implementing the sustainable waste strategy,

[1:38:55] encouraging home retrofitting through the Chirp program, and prioritizing corporate building energy reduction.

[1:38:59] I'm now working on the 2025

[1:39:03] report, and again, we won't have the full data for another few months, but I've

[1:39:06] been hearing from the divisions with their recent and upcoming

[1:39:11] work. I'm very excited to learn more from the

[1:39:15] divisions and community groups and

[1:39:20] look forward to sharing these initiatives to the community and to city council in

[1:39:23] the future. Thank you very much. Thank you for the presentation

[1:39:28] and I'll open the floor to comments and questions

[1:39:32] from the presentation. Council McIntosh. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I have

[1:39:36] a couple of questions. Please. Thank you very much for the presentation.

[1:39:40] Could we put screen number We

[1:39:45] have six back up on the screen.

[1:39:48] Slide number six, please. Thank you. When I was reading the report,

[1:39:53] the one that struck me, and I guess this is the first time

[1:39:56] we've reported the emissions from our

[1:40:01] landfill sites as a separate or

[1:40:10] as part of this presentation, that the fact

[1:40:14] that there were more greenhouse gas emissions

[1:40:18] coming from our, we have three landfills and also I think one

[1:40:23] that's been shuttered that is still emitting.

[1:40:26] And it's so much more than both the heating

[1:40:30] of our municipal buildings and the equipment and vehicles that were using. And then

[1:40:34] this is a big player in our emissions. So my first question is, how did

[1:40:38] we determine that number? How do we determine from

[1:40:42] our landfill sites, how do we arrive at a number

[1:40:46] that obviously jumps out at

[1:40:51] us that we didn't know before? Well,

[1:40:55] maybe we thought,

[1:41:01] we knew, but we didn't have

[1:41:06] this in our presentation previously. How do we know what we're emitting out

[1:41:10] of our landfill sites? Thank you. Thank you. Good question. Go ahead.

[1:41:13] Through you, Mr. Mayor. I normally don't speak on

[1:41:17] behalf of other departments and divisions, however,

[1:41:21] I do know that Renee Brownlee, Director of Environmental, oh my goodness. Services.

[1:41:25] She's out on family vacation this week. So we did talk

[1:41:29] about some potential questions that

[1:41:34] might come up and some of these, I can

[1:41:38] touch on this a bit. So I guess, okay, so the first question is how

[1:41:42] did we determine it? So there's a number of ways that

[1:41:46] they're looking at the solid waste. So waste in general,

[1:41:50] that whole graph is olive waste and within

[1:41:55] all of waste which includes wastewater, compost and our landfill,

[1:41:59] the solid waste itself,

[1:42:02] the landfill waste is 57,000. So we know when

[1:42:06] we looked at in past years, we looked at

[1:42:10] just the buildings and the buildings and the vehicles and now we're adding

[1:42:14] this because we now have staff who are focused that are

[1:42:19] focusing on this report and looking at our emissions and looking

[1:42:26] at what other communities are doing to report their emissions. And across Canada, actually globally,

[1:42:29] they are now including waste. Because even though waste is from all our 180,000 people

[1:42:34] in all our residents, it's a city that actually operates it. And it's a city

[1:42:38] that has some control over policies and how it's

[1:42:43] managed. So in the past we didn't

[1:42:47] include waste and now we do. So that would have been hidden in the community

[1:42:51] waste in the past and now we're trying to say, okay, this is something that

[1:42:56] we have some control over. It is usually included in municipal greenhouse

[1:43:00] gas emissions. And I'm not sure if I answered the

[1:43:05] other part of your question. The other part of your question? Go ahead. I think

[1:43:09] that was That answers my question, thank you. My second question

[1:43:13] through you, Mr. Mayor, to Ms. Bavinthensky. We are also

[1:43:17] collecting, at one of our three active landfill

[1:43:21] sites, we are collecting methane gas and

[1:43:26] we are converting it into electricity. And often

[1:43:30] people say, well, that's a good thing, right? We're creating electricity. So can you tell

[1:43:33] me, is all the methane that we're collecting Are

[1:43:37] we getting all the methane coming out of

[1:43:42] the landfill? I mean, you may not be able to answer this because you're

[1:43:46] not the landfill person, but is all the methane,

[1:43:50] are we collecting all the methane from our main

[1:43:54] landfill? And is it all being converted into electricity? Okay. So, yes, again, I think

[1:43:57] some of that, some of the details Renee would be happy to answer in the

[1:44:01] future, but I do know that it is not feasible. To collect all the methane.

[1:44:03] So if you imagine a mound of our landfill, we have our piping system,

[1:44:06] and I'm very much simplifying this, we have our piping

[1:44:11] system that's collecting gas. It cannot collect all the gas.

[1:44:15] So there is still methane being released from our landfill.

[1:44:19] The methane that we do collect, only a portion of that is going to electricity,

[1:44:22] which, like you said, that's great. The other portion is actually being

[1:44:25] converted to CO2 and water vapor. So we are converting

[1:44:29] whatever we are collecting, we are converting it

[1:44:33] to either electricity or CO2. The issue with methane is that it's dozens of times

[1:44:37] worse as a greenhouse gas than CO2. So when

[1:44:42] you look at greenhouse gas emissions, sorry, I might

[1:44:46] geek out on details here, when you look at

[1:44:51] CO2 greenhouse gas emissions, they often say, it's CO2 equivalent because they convert it into

[1:44:52] what would CO2, what would CO2 do? So in compost,

[1:44:57] it's, you have food, let's say food waste,

[1:45:01] it's decomposing. In our landfill, our compost has windrows and we

[1:45:05] rotate it and that's aerating

[1:45:09] it. So as that food decomposes, it's going

[1:45:13] through aerobic decomposition and one of the results of that is CO2.

[1:45:17] CO2. When that food is in a landfill,

[1:45:23] it gets covered, it gets smothered, it no longer has oxygen. So as it decomposes,

[1:45:25] it's anaerobic decomposition. And the result of that

[1:45:29] is methane. And again, methane, if we had one kilogram of methane, it's equivalent,

[1:45:33] and I don't have the

[1:45:37] numbers, so don't quote me on these numbers, it's dozens of times worse

[1:45:41] than one kilogram of CO2. So that's why

[1:45:46] when we can just prevent that type of waste going into the landfill, we're preventing

[1:45:49] methane from being released and created to begin with. So we

[1:45:53] want to try to remove that option. We want to prevent that type of material

[1:45:57] going to the landfill to begin with because that methane is

[1:46:01] worse than the CO2. And even though

[1:46:06] we have this great process of

[1:46:11] turning it into electricity, it's just not feasible to

[1:46:15] collect it all. That was well explained, thank you. Thank you. And it's only

[1:46:19] one of our landfill sites, so all the other landfill

[1:46:23] sites are just methane right straight up.

[1:46:27] And can you confirm for me

[1:46:31] through you, Mr. Mayor, that in your calculation for that graph that's

[1:46:35] disappeared again, in that you subtracted the greenhouse gases that are being converted, the tonnage

[1:46:37] that's being converted to electricity in the math to still get

[1:46:42] that graph? Yes, yes. So that graph is,

[1:46:46] imagine if we had, I talk with my hands, I apologise.

[1:46:50] If we didn't have the electricity taking, the methane

[1:46:54] being taken out of there, that graph would be higher.

[1:46:59] So yes, we have removed the gas that's being turned

[1:47:03] into electricity from there. Okay, thank you. So my last question,

[1:47:08] and perhaps it's obvious, so if we green cart our wet garbage and we

[1:47:12] put it in those windrows and we separate our garbage and create

[1:47:17] the compost as we're doing at the landfills,

[1:47:21] we will have far less greenhouse gases

[1:47:26] going up. Into the stratosphere. And so what can we

[1:47:30] do then to move in

[1:47:35] that direction, to keep the wet

[1:47:42] garbage, the organic garbage, out of the

[1:47:48] landfill? So this is where we now have our sustainable waste strategy. And I would

[1:47:51] refer to Renee Brownlee for a lot. There are many recommendations

[1:47:55] in the Sustainable Wastewater Strategy. There's policies, programs,

[1:47:58] initiatives. So that idea is as

[1:48:05] these initiatives come forward, having that climate lens when we're bringing these ideas

[1:48:09] forward. There's new and upcoming diversion programs, the composting

[1:48:13] programs. So all of these initiatives in that

[1:48:17] strategy are important to help reduce the Emissions. Thank you.

[1:48:24] My final comment. Please. Go ahead. Diverting the organics from

[1:48:29] the landfill not only saves us

[1:48:33] millions of dollars in having to build a

[1:48:37] new landfill when it's full, but it also significantly will reduce our

[1:48:41] greenhouse gases. And it's a very inexpensive way for us to save the landfill space

[1:48:45] and to reduce our greenhouse gases because it doesn't cost us anything.

[1:48:49] It's following the strategic goal in the strategic plan that was provided to us

[1:48:53] by environmental services. So that's it. Thank you for that.

[1:48:57] Thank you. And thank you for those

[1:49:01] questions. Certainly composting is good at so many levels. So thank you

[1:49:06] for highlighting that. Next up is Councillor Benoit followed

[1:49:10] by Councillor Leduc. Councillor Benoit, go ahead. Thank you and through

[1:49:14] you, Mr. Chair. I noticed as we're going through this, because of our population

[1:49:19] growth that we've kind of plateaued a bit and how we're making it towards our

[1:49:21] goals. And I'm wondering if in the future it would make sense to present this

[1:49:25] in a per capita option to then see how we're actually doing compared to the

[1:49:28] budgeted population growth and whatnot to see how we are progressing towards our goals,

[1:49:33] even with our growing population.

[1:49:38] Thank you. Yeah, present. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, yes, that would be that would

[1:49:40] be our next step. And I think that might

[1:49:45] help with that timeline because, again, we don't get the data until late.

[1:49:49] I'm hoping that this year we might present the

[1:49:53] 2025 report sooner. It'll have the

[1:49:57] 2025 accomplishments and the projects and

[1:50:02] initiatives. But because we

[1:50:08] don't get the data, we might just look at the 2024 data again,

[1:50:13] but differently. So this might be,

[1:50:17] we will continue going through the process of showing the graph over time, but now

[1:50:21] that part of the data might be delayed. And so the 2025 data, energy data,

[1:50:25] we might look at it differently. And so per capita or delving into it a

[1:50:27] little bit differently. So then moving forward, We will, we won't have this delay to

[1:50:31] present a report. Just that part of the

[1:50:37] report will be 2 years deleted.

[1:50:40] Thank you. Councillor Duke. Thank you, Interim Chair.

[1:50:43] In your report, you talk about the

[1:50:49] continued investment in infrastructure improvements. And you did mention the Spark

[1:50:53] Street building. As to how energy efficient that is. And that's a great new story

[1:50:57] there.

[1:51:01] My more concern is, and our infrastructure, our roads is our biggest

[1:51:05] asset. And we do have a lot of construction

[1:51:09] during the summer months, which emanates a lot of gases.

[1:51:13] So what are we doing

[1:51:19] there to reduce that? To your chair. Please go ahead, Jeff. Thank you,

[1:51:23] Mr. Mayor. I guess I'll say, once again,

[1:51:28] I can't really speak on behalf

[1:51:31] of some of the other divisions or departments on the road

[1:51:36] side of things. Mr. Vilko, do you want to maybe interject there with respect

[1:51:41] to, I guess, a question from Councillor Duke

[1:51:44] with respect to construction roads. And there's

[1:51:49] obviously emitting of gases that happens.

[1:51:52] What are we doing to try to reduce that?

[1:51:58] Well, thank you. Three of you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor.

[1:52:01] I think there's a couple factors at play here. One, I think the equipment that

[1:52:03] contractors use, newer equipment, is always more efficient than

[1:52:07] older equipment. So there's sort of a technology improvement there that does help reduce emissions

[1:52:11] from the equipment that is used. From an infrastructure standpoint,

[1:52:14] you'll recognise in the capital

[1:52:18] program, the city is looking to invest into active

[1:52:23] transportation, which also is a part of our strategy for

[1:52:27] reducing greenhouse gas emissions and just getting more vehicles off the

[1:52:31] road in general. Thank you. Any follow-up,

[1:52:36] Councillor LeDuc? Yes. So a

[1:52:40] follow up to my

[1:52:44] question is that when we go for with our

[1:52:50] RFPs, are we putting in any requirements

[1:52:54] regarding our strategy to the emissions when

[1:52:59] it comes to construction? Because as you've pointed out,

[1:53:02] with newer equipment, less emissions. There are new technologies

[1:53:07] out there So are we actively looking at those new technologies future? Thank you.

[1:53:10] Mr. Vilko. Through the mayor to

[1:53:14] Councillor LeDuc,

[1:53:16] the city

[1:53:23] doesn't have direct control over the equipment

[1:53:28] that contractors utilise. Obviously reports like the one

[1:53:32] before us is

[1:53:35] really about awareness and everybody in the community has

[1:53:40] a role to play

[1:53:45] in their carbon footprint and how they

[1:53:48] can benefit the environment. So I think it's more of a broader community approach

[1:53:52] for everybody taking those initiatives on

[1:53:57] their own. Thank you. Any follow up? See none?

[1:54:01] Okay, thank you. Any other questions

[1:54:05] or comments? I want to thank you for the presentation. Certainly, I think this year

[1:54:08] the fact that we're including waste in the presentation really highlights the

[1:54:12] importance of, as Councillor McIntosh mentioned, the challenges certainly that

[1:54:17] we have in reducing certainly wet waste into our landfill. The importance people

[1:54:21] don't understand filling a garbage bag with dry and

[1:54:25] wet and they don't understand the difference but actually at the end of the day,

[1:54:29] it makes a big difference. So that's why presentations

[1:54:33] like this and reports like this

[1:54:38] are key to change behaviour if we are going to try to get our community

[1:54:41] on the right path. As well as we touched a bit about transportation,

[1:54:44] about us as a city trying to green our fleet as much as we can.

[1:54:47] And I know there was a this year presentation by our fleet services that we're

[1:54:51] trying to certainly green as much as we can as we renew our fleet,

[1:54:54] as well as any new buildings at the highest standards, that we could

[1:54:58] possibly do and that's our focus as well. So there's lots happening and we need

[1:55:01] to share those practices and continue advocating with other members of our community to do

[1:55:04] so. And I want to thank as well the members of the community that are

[1:55:07] certainly always writing to us and encouraging us to continue pushing

[1:55:12] in that direction. The story of Sudbury, as we know, of where we were,

[1:55:15] right, with the emissions and what it did to our landscape of where we

[1:55:20] are today and the importance of certainly greening the world.

[1:55:24] And the energy storage and the energy transition happening,

[1:55:27] it's happening here in our community. We're leaders, let's continue

[1:55:32] to act like that and I think that presentation and as we push ourselves as

[1:55:35] a city and having the community push us as well, we're going to certainly,

[1:55:38] I believe, going in the right direction even though small

[1:55:42] steps, I think these small steps will turn into bigger steps as we move forward.

[1:55:45] So again, thank you for your leadership in that

[1:55:48] file. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Okay, next up we

[1:55:53] have our road rehabilitation plan report. So with that,

[1:55:58] I will get our CAO to provide us with our 2026 strategy

[1:56:03] for the 2026 construction season. From there we'll have Jean Vilco provide

[1:56:06] some comments as well and we'll open up for questions

[1:56:11] and comments. Thank you.

[1:56:14] Go ahead.

[1:56:18] Great, through you, Mr. Mayor. Before Mr. Vilko gets into some of the details of

[1:56:22] the report that's before you tonight, I'd like to speak at

[1:56:26] a higher level to explain how these

[1:56:30] recommendations came forward and why.

[1:56:35] Over the past several months, we've made

[1:56:39] significant organisational changes and have a completely new

[1:56:43] executive leadership team, a lot of new faces at the director level as well.

[1:56:46] And with new people in senior positions, we're taking a hard look at how we've

[1:56:50] been operating and how we can improve in the way

[1:56:54] we deliver services to the community. With our new team,

[1:56:58] our new CFO, I've been working with our GMs,

[1:57:01] directors and staff to do a comprehensive review of

[1:57:06] the capital budget, all funded and unfunded projects, and our financing plan for

[1:57:10] infrastructure renewal. It would have been great to have done this review prior to the

[1:57:14] recent budget process, but frankly, the team was still very new and we just

[1:57:18] didn't have the time to get it done in time for budget.

[1:57:22] So that review is underway now and we expect

[1:57:27] to report back with a more fulsome report to you

[1:57:31] by the end of the second quarter on

[1:57:35] the state of all capital projects, financing strategies and additional

[1:57:39] recommended changes we might have. But we've heard from council, we've heard from staff,

[1:57:43] we've heard from our community that our infrastructure from our roads

[1:57:47] to our facilities is aging and we need a

[1:57:51] better plan to close the gap. As residents of

[1:57:55] the city, we can see for ourselves that

[1:57:59] while we have asked taxpayers to pay more to address the

[1:58:07] infrastructure gap, we haven't necessarily been able

[1:58:10] to keep up. You know, some of our roads

[1:58:15] are in really difficult conditions and our years from

[1:58:19] making the list to be reconstructed. So we needed a plan

[1:58:23] to extend the useful life and improve road conditions in more

[1:58:27] areas of the city while we work through our

[1:58:31] lengthy road reconstruction program. With input from our teams on the

[1:58:36] front lines in roads and engineering, we're proposing to allocate significantly more funding to asphalt

[1:58:40] patching and other techniques which will improve road quality for more more

[1:58:44] parts of the city. We've identified the funding for this through the beginning of this

[1:58:48] in-depth review that I referenced.

[1:58:55] And it's not a one-time program that we're proposing.

[1:58:58] We're proposing to continue this allocation to

[1:59:02] road rehabilitation annually going forward.

[1:59:05] It's about asset management and trying to close the infrastructure gap.

[1:59:09] We could have waited a few more months until our full capital review was complete

[1:59:13] or until we updated a new multi-year capital budget, but we didn't want to miss

[1:59:17] a construction season when we could start making a difference this year. We have a

[1:59:22] new leadership team who is really motivated to bring change to our community,

[1:59:25] to make a difference as soon as possible.

[1:59:30] And I'm really excited about the work that we're doing together and want to thank

[1:59:32] the staff team that have worked across divisions to bring this

[1:59:36] immediate plan forward. So with that, I'd like to ask Mr. Vilko to provide a

[1:59:38] little more detail on the program we're proposing in the

[1:59:42] report. Great, thank you. As noted

[1:59:46] in the report, there's $10 million proposed to be redistributed in

[1:59:50] rehabilitation of MR 35 from Big Nickel Mine

[1:59:55] Road to Notre Dame and Azilda. The rehabilitation works would consist

[1:59:59] of a combination of pavement renewal treatments consisting of pulverizing, milling and

[2:00:03] overlay to

[2:00:08] address localized pavement conditions. To address

[2:00:12] surface deterioration, reinstate areas and improve road

[2:00:17] quality across the city, two separate $5 million contracts for a total of $10 million

[2:00:20] are proposed to be assigned for spreader-late asphalt patch

[2:00:24] works. Both the MR35 work and the two contracts for spreader-late

[2:00:28] asphalt patches are in addition to the

[2:00:33] projects approved in the 2026 capital budget, which already consists of

[2:00:37] about 20 road projects on the city's work plan for this year.

[2:00:40] The list of proposed roads to be

[2:00:45] rehabilitated is based on input from City staff that includes roads, operations managers

[2:00:49] and linear infrastructure services and engineering staff. It's a

[2:00:53] list that identifies the highest priority areas and

[2:00:57] roads that require attention first. Road conditions do change, particularly in the spring as the

[2:01:01] frost comes out of the ground, so it's important to understand that the list is

[2:01:05] subject to change based on conditions and will continue to be evaluated

[2:01:09] and prioritized. It's also important the council understands that the work along these road segments

[2:01:13] will be large asphalt patches targeting those worst areas of the road segments that were

[2:01:16] identified and not full road resurfacing of each of the roads

[2:01:20] on the list. Of course there are other roads

[2:01:24] that could be added to the list or they could be debated.

[2:01:28] Overall our collective goal is to maximize the funds allocated here

[2:01:33] to improve the roads. We are eager to get started with the

[2:01:37] work, trust the process and keep in mind that this is a larger scale targeted

[2:01:40] approach for improving road conditions. And as noted earlier, subsequent budgets will include this

[2:01:44] continued approach for investment to specifically improve the overall surface condition for

[2:01:48] the road network. Lastly, I just want to

[2:01:54] recognise that the

[2:01:58] list is quite extensive and may trigger concerns about traffic congestion. We recognise

[2:02:02] that and will strive to over communicate on where the works are

[2:02:06] happening in coordination with the contractor to allow residents to find alternate routes

[2:02:12] during the work. And also keeping in

[2:02:16] mind that the grinding and paving type operation

[2:02:21] that's being proposed here is fairly fluid, so the work

[2:02:24] areas will shift quite regularly. And I guess with that, we're happy to

[2:02:28] answer any questions that council we have. Thank you. And I just, before we open

[2:02:32] the floor to comments and questions, I wanted to thank the staff. I know

[2:02:36] they were taking a deep dive in our certainly capital plan for this year and

[2:02:39] certainly our roads. And I know Mr. Wilco, our CAO and our CFO,

[2:02:44] worked hard to, to look at how we can certainly continue and certainly improve

[2:02:48] the way we were doing things. So going from three million

[2:02:52] dollars a year in our Shave and Pay program to $10

[2:02:57] million annually. And most of that funding, well, all that funding is

[2:03:02] basically our special capital levy that we've been putting on in 23,

[2:03:06] 24, sorry, 23, sorry, 23, 24, 25, 26. So yeah, so those are things that

[2:03:11] we put ourselves as counsel. We've wanted to see results.

[2:03:15] We wanted, because we heard loud and clear from residents,

[2:03:18] roads has been certainly something that we wanted to address.

[2:03:23] And I think that the team is responding to that desire and the need of

[2:03:25] improvements to our roads and having more projects

[2:03:29] being done. And we're seeing the fruits of those investments that we've done and now

[2:03:32] to ensure that those projects move forward. I think it's very exciting for our community

[2:03:36] to see these roads being addressed and that we

[2:03:41] are concerned about. So with that, I will open

[2:03:45] the floor for for comments and

[2:03:49] questions. I got Councillor Parah and then Councillor Lapierre, Councillor Rady, go ahead, Councillor Parah.

[2:03:53] Thank you to you, Mr. Mayor. Again, I'd also like to thank the

[2:03:57] staff, I mean, for working at refining

[2:04:01] processes to identify areas where we can free up funds that were maybe going to

[2:04:04] be utilised for things that are not a prior to

[2:04:09] the city and being redirected to our roads. Since the

[2:04:13] report was of course there's engagement with the public who

[2:04:17] pay attention to these things.

[2:04:21] And one concern that was

[2:04:24] asked of me that I couldn't answer is when it comes

[2:04:28] to the large asphalt patches, what's the life expectancy? So if we do an area,

[2:04:32] how long do we expect that to last? And do the providers of such services

[2:04:36] offer a warranty on the work they perform? Thank you. We would like

[2:04:40] to answer that. Mr. Ilko. Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor,

[2:04:44] I'll get started

[2:04:48] here and maybe some others can chime in here.

[2:04:53] We've got other staff supporting this report. As far as the longevity of

[2:04:58] the patches, it's estimated to get about seven, between seven and

[2:05:02] ten years of life out of those patches. The warranty work itself, there is a

[2:05:06] limited warranty period and maybe I'll ask Mr. Rocco just to give us a little

[2:05:12] bit more clarity on the

[2:05:16] warranty details for our projects.

[2:05:19] Mr. Rocco, please turn on your mic. Just turn on the mic please. Yeah,

[2:05:23] so through you Mr. Mayor, our contracts, our capital

[2:05:28] contracts have a two-year warranty period. Thank you.

[2:05:32] Councillor Pagtakhan, follow-up? Just one

[2:05:36] follow-up. And with regular road work, from what I remember from operations committee's reports,

[2:05:40] we do quality checks of the aggregate of the asphalt to ensure

[2:05:44] it meets a standard. Is that also true

[2:05:48] with respect to the large asphalt patches? And how does that work

[2:05:51] with ensuring that we're looking at taxpayer

[2:05:55] money, great that we're investing this that

[2:05:59] we're going to be receiving the product, the best product available so that

[2:06:03] it lasts closer to the 10 years than the seven years. Thank you.

[2:06:06] Thank you. If you have Mr.

[2:06:10] Rocco respond to that. Thank you,

[2:06:13] Mr. Mayor. So our asphalt specifications meet Ontario specifications and part of

[2:06:18] that requirement is to do quality assurance testing.

[2:06:21] So that's regularly tested. Thank you. Good for

[2:06:25] now. Okay. Thank you. Thank you to

[2:06:29] staff as

[2:06:34] well for this and the detailed report. Appreciate all the

[2:06:39] work behind it. Two questions. With this larger sum of money, does that give us

[2:06:42] an opportunity to open up a larger tender to maybe have more

[2:06:46] contractors bid on it to get better pricing in the long run?

[2:06:50] Thank you.

[2:06:51] Mr. Wilko.

[2:06:55] Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor,

[2:06:57] the three projects that are defined in the report are exactly that.

[2:07:01] So the MR35 is a one contract for budgeted

[2:07:06] $10 million. So it's a significant scope of work.

[2:07:09] The other two contracts are split into

[2:07:13] two $5 million contracts again. Looking to attract

[2:07:17] contractors with a significant scope of work and also recognise efficiencies

[2:07:21] from economies of scale and scope for benefit

[2:07:26] to the city. Thank you. I appreciate that because I

[2:07:30] think being competitive and having that much work is easier for

[2:07:34] big teams to mobilise and being able

[2:07:38] with best price as possible.

[2:07:42] So the other piece I have, I lost my train of thought now. Come back

[2:07:46] to me. I'll go ahead. Thanks. Not a problem.

[2:07:49] Councillor Singer, ready? Let's go ahead.

[2:07:53] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I just want to echo some

[2:07:57] of the comments that my colleagues made. I just want to thank our CAO.

[2:07:59] I want to thank our general manager

[2:08:04] of growth and infrastructure and his team. And our CFO for

[2:08:09] finding, not finding, I shouldn't use that word, but the comments out

[2:08:14] there were, well, we found some money.

[2:08:16] Where was this money before?

[2:08:21] So I'm happy to hear that those comments have been

[2:08:25] clarified to provide that under new leadership,

[2:08:29] a new leadership team, they've looked at different options to come back to take some

[2:08:33] of that capital tax levy that the community and

[2:08:38] wanted for roads and look at trying to extend

[2:08:42] the useful life of a lot of our existing

[2:08:46] infrastructure. I appreciate, Mr. Balco, for identifying that there's going to be a

[2:08:50] communication piece and an extensive communication piece for residents to know

[2:08:55] if a certain area, because there's a lot of roads on this list that are

[2:08:58] going to be addressed. So people or citizens can adjust their driving habits so they

[2:09:03] can know, okay, there's going to be construction on

[2:09:07] this road. They can look at a

[2:09:11] different route. I guess my only question is related to the communication and the timeliness

[2:09:14] of, I know it's not a full road reconstruction,

[2:09:19] so it's not going to take four or five

[2:09:23] months through Mr. Mayor to Mr. Velco,

[2:09:27] can you identify or can you give us roughly in a

[2:09:30] certain area, how much impact would that have over a period

[2:09:34] of time or inconvenience to motorists? Can you identify a timeline or can you provide

[2:09:38] more of a approximate timeline that it would impact

[2:09:43] maybe in a significant area or significant street that

[2:09:47] residents would be looking at?

[2:09:51] Thank you. Mr. Villeneuve. Yes, through the mayor to

[2:09:55] the councillor, the type

[2:10:01] of operation that we're talking about is basically two

[2:10:05] different crews. A grinding crew would come

[2:10:09] first to grind out the areas and then the,

[2:10:14] in a separate crew would come at a later date to to

[2:10:19] pave it. And so again, the duration of the construction on

[2:10:23] any particular road is based

[2:10:29] on how extensive the repairs are. But as

[2:10:33] a rough estimate, I think the grinding on any particular street could be

[2:10:38] anywhere from one

[2:10:43] to three days. And same thing for the pavement.

[2:10:47] Again, pretty rough estimates, but it's in the units of days, not weeks, for each

[2:10:50] of those operations. And it's really, it will be quite

[2:10:54] fluid in the sense that there'll be a grinding crew that

[2:10:58] will be targeting certain areas, trying to

[2:11:04] be efficient with their operations. And then again,

[2:11:08] the paving crew would also fall in that

[2:11:12] sequence to also again be efficient.

[2:11:16] So I think the residents are looking

[2:11:20] for minimal impact and I think the contractors are looking to be as efficient

[2:11:25] as possible as they work through those areas. One of the things

[2:11:29] that does come to mind here is that if there's

[2:11:33] any intersection work we can also look to schedule some work

[2:11:37] to happen off hours like an overnight area if it's a, depending on

[2:11:41] the area and the amount

[2:11:45] of trying to minimize that disruption for high volume areas. And just one

[2:11:50] follow-up, please, yep. Just for the public and Mr.

[2:11:53] Volko, if you can just identify, it's broken out into sections, south section,

[2:11:58] southeast section, and so forth, and there's numerous streets in each

[2:12:01] section. I'm assuming these will be staggered and it's

[2:12:05] not all going to be done. The south section is just going. Can you just

[2:12:08] lay out on maybe on a high level how this would be, if you

[2:12:13] can right now, just how this would roll

[2:12:17] out or, like, timeline, if you don't mind.

[2:12:21] Through, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Mr. Liko, through the mayor,

[2:12:24] you'll notice that there's two contracts proposed, and that's

[2:12:29] to delineate the city basically into two. Two distinct areas and

[2:12:33] contracts so that we don't have, assuming that

[2:12:37] there's two separate contractors doing one contract for

[2:12:41] each contractor, that those contractors

[2:12:45] aren't sort of crossing over into their respective areas so

[2:12:49] that it allows each contractor to really try and

[2:12:53] coordinate their work and minimize the impacts to residents.

[2:12:57] That way. So it enables that coordinated

[2:13:02] approach for minimizing those impacts. I guess the ability

[2:13:06] to schedule the work,

[2:13:10] I think, you know, the actual sequence

[2:13:14] of the work, which roads happen in which area is really going to

[2:13:20] be governed by the

[2:13:24] by the contractor. Essentially, they're looking to be as efficient as possible. So I think

[2:13:27] there will be a sort of a,

[2:13:31] it won't be a, it'll be like a sequential flow, not a sort of a

[2:13:33] shotgun blast across the area. So again, the contractor will dictate the

[2:13:38] exact sequence, but I would expect that they would be looking

[2:13:44] to move from street to street in a strategic

[2:13:48] way that maximizes their efficiency. One final comment. Go ahead.

[2:13:52] Just want to again echo that the community has asked for roads. We see

[2:13:56] the potholes every day with the freeze-thaw and staff is heard loud and management is

[2:14:00] heard loud and clear. And I appreciate the initiative that's

[2:14:05] been brought forward and it's going to

[2:14:09] be exciting times for

[2:14:13] our community. And like you point out, Mr. Mayor, this is

[2:14:17] not just one and done. This is going to be on an annual basis.

[2:14:19] So we're going to see the roads really improve over multiple years. So thank

[2:14:23] you to the leadership of the staff

[2:14:28] and to Miss Litterman and her team for bringing this forward in a

[2:14:32] timely fashion. Thank you. Next up,

[2:14:36] I got a number of speakers here.

[2:14:40] That's great. I got Councillor Duke. Followed by Councillor Labi, Councillor Sizer, Councillor Fortin,

[2:14:44] and then Councillor Lapierre has found his through and thought, I thought, I'll get back

[2:14:48] to him at that point. Okay, so Councillor Duke, please go ahead.

[2:14:51] Thank you and to

[2:14:56] your chair. First off, I want to point out that,

[2:15:03] you know, it's not 20, roughly $22 million surplus as approximately

[2:15:07] $6.2 million. Are projects that are being cancelled in

[2:15:12] 2026. So in realistic numbers, roughly it's about

[2:15:16] 16 million dollars in surplus projects. So my first

[2:15:20] question is, and I notice here that

[2:15:24] we have projects that date

[2:15:28] back to 2019 to as late as 2024. And I'm wondering

[2:15:33] why these surpluses weren't identified.

[2:15:37] And I get it. I hear that,

[2:15:41] you know, we had a staff change,

[2:15:46] reorganization. But before that, these projects were on the books. And so

[2:15:50] I'm wondering why none of this money was identified in previous budgets

[2:15:55] or, and, I mean,

[2:15:58] I heard it today that, you know,

[2:16:01] we had a staffing change, but we didn't

[2:16:05] completely change all our staff. We made a

[2:16:09] couple of changes. We do have a finance department.

[2:16:13] So how did these checks and balances get missed

[2:16:17] before budget time? Future. Thank you. Who wants

[2:16:22] to go ahead? Mr. Lichterman or Mr.

[2:16:26] Karpenko? Which one we want

[2:16:31] to speak to. Ms.

[2:16:35] Carpenco or our CFO will provide a first

[2:16:39] step answer. Yes. So I think as

[2:16:45] an annual process, the finance staff had

[2:16:50] conversations with internal departments and did their

[2:16:54] best at closing out projects. But when you have

[2:16:58] a new solidified senior leadership team that's sending

[2:17:02] a very consistent message across the board that

[2:17:07] we want to modify the ways we are managing our capital programs,

[2:17:11] I think that's what led to maybe some deeper level

[2:17:16] conversations and the

[2:17:21] identification of these funds to allow a new road strategy. Thank you. Follow-up question,

[2:17:24] Councillor Duke. So, yes, it still hasn't identified the checks and balances

[2:17:31] that were missed through the processor. Because these are projects,

[2:17:35] like I say, that date back

[2:17:41] from 2019 to 2024. You know,

[2:17:45] we have a finance team. We've got KPMG that

[2:17:49] audit our books or review our books. And it was never identified

[2:17:53] in a budget or through KPMG that we had these surplus funds

[2:17:58] that could have been used in previous budgets,

[2:18:04] even in our past

[2:18:08] budget. So moving on from that question, my next question is

[2:18:12] that in past years, whenever there's been a surplus, normally the surplus goes back into

[2:18:18] our tax stabilization accounts. So why

[2:18:22] is it that, and I understand, you know, we want roads and everything else,

[2:18:26] but in the budget that we just passed, you know, we dipped into our reserves.

[2:18:31] So I'm just wondering why now that we are changing this process of not taking

[2:18:34] the money and putting it back, whenever we have surpluses,

[2:18:38] it always goes back into our

[2:18:42] tax stabilization account. So could you please elaborate on that through your

[2:18:47] chair? Through the mayor, to the councillor. So a couple of points.

[2:18:51] So the surplus that you're referring to that goes back to the tax rate

[2:18:56] stabilization would be an operating surplus and that continues at year end where and

[2:18:59] actually occurred for 2025 where we had an

[2:19:03] operating surplus and that goes to

[2:19:20] the reserves. In this case, yes, there were some capital projects that were closed

[2:19:24] out, which is a normal process that takes place, certainly with every year end,

[2:19:28] where we're reviewing capital projects, we're getting updates on them, we are returning funds on

[2:19:31] some where work has been done or rescoped, and in others, we require more funds

[2:19:33] and we might request to move funds to those.

[2:19:36] So that's a normal annual

[2:19:41] process. We are taking a deeper dive

[2:19:45] into that process this year because the team here,

[2:19:49] at least at the senior levels, is not as

[2:19:54] familiar with this budget, these projects, wants to ensure that we all agree in terms

[2:19:58] of the priorities. And so in starting that process, that's where we did identify a

[2:20:01] number of projects that were ready to be closed out. And yes, some of them

[2:20:03] have 2019 and those earlier years listed. That's the year where the funds

[2:20:07] for that project were budgeted. It may not have been the year that the project

[2:20:09] actually started just given capacity and timing. But the majority of the projects that we

[2:20:12] closed out had still been in warranty and there were reasons why the project managers

[2:20:24] had recommended over

[2:20:33] the years to continue holding the funds, thinking that they may need to apply them

[2:20:34] to the project. I really appreciate the work

[2:20:38] with Rob Raka and his team in conjunction with

[2:20:45] Joe Raka, the Raka team over here, to help us work through a lot of

[2:20:46] these projects and come up with this plan. As I said, we're not done working

[2:20:48] through the

[2:21:10] entire capital program, which includes facilities, water, wastewater as well. But really, this is not

[2:21:11] an unusual process that we went through. It is a bit unusual that we paused,

[2:21:12] identified some of the surplus funds, and said instead of keeping them

[2:21:16] in the capital program to move around to approved existing projects, we're proposing to create

[2:21:17] three new projects. So that we can take a

[2:21:21] different approach to asset management. So that's why we're doing this a

[2:21:26] bit differently this year. But some of

[2:21:32] the checks and balances that you refer to certainly

[2:21:35] have been in place in the past and were in place again this year.

[2:21:38] It is just adjusting the approach. Thank you. Okay, we'll move on to council.

[2:21:42] One more question. Yes, I have another, I have a

[2:21:46] few questions so you can put me on the second

[2:21:54] round if you'd like. Go ahead right now.

[2:21:59] Okay. But I noticed in the report here that we're taking money from Second Avenue.

[2:22:00] So we're cancelling the project. Mr. Mayor, point of order. If we're not going

[2:22:04] to do a deep dive, Mr. Mayor, on each, excuse me, each road that's going

[2:22:08] to be right there in the report if you don't like it. No,

[2:22:12] Councillor, it's a question that I can ask. Each specific road that was

[2:22:16] either identified, not identified, if you want to discuss that, discuss that offline with the

[2:22:18] GM related to your request for a certain road, Mr. Mayor. So thank you,

[2:22:22] Councillor, just make sure that your question is not about one specific

[2:22:27] project or else we're gonna have everybody around the table asking for a specific project

[2:22:34] which ones are on, and which

[2:22:38] ones are not. We know that for a fact. We don't deal

[2:22:42] with that. Basically, the team decides which projects. If you want to keep your comments

[2:22:43] or question in a general nature, not a problem. But if you want to be

[2:22:45] very specific, I'm not going to allow it. Go ahead. Mr. Mayor. Yes. It's my

[2:22:47] project. Your project. I'm sorry, councillor. Nothing is

[2:22:53] your project. These are City projects. You made me point of order. If you want

[2:22:56] to debate me, then step away from the chair and put your. Not debating you.

[2:22:57] I'm allowing what questions will be brought forward or not. That's chair.

[2:23:01] I have that Authority. I'm allowed. I don't have to ask it. It's my residence,

[2:23:03] as the media and our press releases were doing a great

[2:23:08] job at saying like these are supplemental. For myself, I wanted to also add what

[2:23:11] the actual map and projects were. So I went to our city website and I

[2:23:15] noticed that we have some really great visuals,

[2:23:18] one pagers that are like infographics

[2:23:23] that are easily like maps of construction projects

[2:23:27] and that kind of thing. On our city website

[2:23:31] currently we just have the 2024 capital accomplishments. So I'm

[2:23:35] wondering when the 2025 capital accomplishments will be put up so

[2:23:39] that we can do comparators for all of our awards because that encompasses all of

[2:23:44] our awards and also the 2026 construction map. So we're three months

[2:23:49] into 2026 and I know construction season hasn't started

[2:23:53] yet. But I'm

[2:23:58] wondering if I can get a timeline on when that resource would be

[2:24:02] People can just see it instead of all the whataboutisms. It's there, it's laid out,

[2:24:04] and it's

[2:24:08] part of our four-year capital plan. Instead of us councillors going into

[2:24:14] the capital budget on certain pages and identifying for each ward, I think it would

[2:24:16] be great if we had that kind of tool available to us.

[2:24:20] Very soon so that we can dispel some

[2:24:24] of those frustrations that people are experiencing, just their

[2:24:28] reaction and not really reading all of the article or reading all the

[2:24:31] information that was posted about the supplemental road systems. And also might

[2:24:36] quash some of the purposeful rage baiting against the city and just,

[2:24:42] you know, quash that misinformation or the purposeful disinformation that's being shared about the capital

[2:24:44] projects that were that we're investing in. So maybe just a timeline

[2:24:49] for those two

[2:24:53] important tools and resources. That would be wonderful.

[2:24:56] Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Ruckup, please provide a response.

[2:25:00] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. On the

[2:25:04] engineering services website, we do have what's called an interactive construction map, which shows projects

[2:25:07] that are planned and under construction. The other map you referred to is the static

[2:25:09] 2024 construction or 2025 construction map. So we can definitely produce a static construction

[2:25:13] map. We're currently working on that, but we're moving more in the direction of

[2:25:17] having an interactive map which provides more detailed information

[2:25:21] on each location. There's sort of like a how-to document so forth there as

[2:25:25] well to guide users on how to use the map.

[2:25:29] It's still work in progress, but we can

[2:25:33] definitely provide a static map if that's

[2:25:37] the the wish. Thank you, Chancellor LeBeau. Thank you, a follow-up. Thank you

[2:25:41] for a follow-up from Mr. through you. So, and I do see the interactive road

[2:25:43] construction map there as a link, but it's identified by street. So that is a

[2:25:47] good tool if someone's really wondering, like, what's the status of their street. But I

[2:25:50] think that, like, for me, the 2024

[2:25:55] capital accomplishment and the 2025 construction map with the visual is

[2:25:59] all-encompassing for all awards at one at

[2:26:03] one time, and it's a very simple visual graphic that

[2:26:08] I think will be easier for most

[2:26:12] residents if they were to be inquiring.

[2:26:16] So, yeah, I'm just wondering if you were to create that since

[2:26:20] those projects in 2025 were completed, what a timeline might be

[2:26:24] for us as councillors to help start spreading the success stories and comparators

[2:26:28] for year over year so that people can actually quantitatively all of the infrastructure

[2:26:32] improvements that we have done in the last few years and that are going

[2:26:36] to complete this four year term. Thank you. Thank you. For the comments. Yeah,

[2:26:39] we can definitely produce a map and typically prior

[2:26:43] to the start of the construction

[2:26:47] season, we'll publish a new map so sometime in the next four to

[2:26:51] six weeks. Perfect. Awesome. You follow up, Council Labe. We're good for

[2:26:55] now. Yeah, I'm great. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you.

[2:26:59] Next up, I had Councillor Sizer. Councillor Sizer, go ahead.

[2:27:04] Thank you, your Worship, and through you, Mr. Velk, a little

[2:27:08] bit more of a high level question

[2:27:12] on regarding timelines is when this will start. I mean, these contracts

[2:27:17] through yours have not been, have not been

[2:27:21] led as of yet. They're not, Are they on

[2:27:25] our website now or? Through the mayor to the councillor, the answer to

[2:27:30] your question is no, it has not. We are

[2:27:34] coming to council here tonight to get

[2:27:38] hopefully approval to proceed and then some design work would follow in

[2:27:42] preparation for those tender documents that you

[2:27:48] suggested. Thank you. And I just, I was just wondering, and I know

[2:27:52] you don't have, you haven't got a crystal ball

[2:27:56] and we don't know who will be, who will be

[2:28:00] bidding on, on these 3 contracts type of thing. But I was just

[2:28:05] wondering, and maybe it's a lot along the lines as,

[2:28:08] as Councillor Labi, is if we have a general start when we, the residents can

[2:28:13] expect to see the construction. For these large spread patches, et cetera, to begin?

[2:28:17] Through the mayor to Councillor Sizer, the idea is

[2:28:21] to maximize the construction season. We're a little bit constrained by when the asphalt

[2:28:25] plants open. My understanding is that the plants typically open second or

[2:28:29] third week of May, and so that would

[2:28:34] ideally be the start time as soon

[2:28:39] as the asphalt plants are open that the work could start.

[2:28:43] Okay, thank you because sorry through your worship.

[2:28:47] Thanks Mr. Vilkel because that's we will be the residents will be

[2:28:52] chomping at their to get at to find out when the

[2:28:56] roads are going to be done on them.

[2:29:00] So it's a great project. I'm glad we're going

[2:29:03] forward with it and just If we get

[2:29:07] it all done, I mean, I'd be

[2:29:12] happy. Well, we all, we all, Councillor. Okay, from that, I have Councillor Fortin.

[2:29:17] Go ahead. Thank you and through you,

[2:29:22] Chair. Well, I've been very vocal about how excited I am about this

[2:29:27] and I'd be remiss that I forgot Mr. Roca, our Director

[2:29:30] of Infrastructure. On all his work that he's been doing with the rest of the

[2:29:34] staff. So that's fantastic. And I just wanted to mention that I didn't think this

[2:29:37] story could get any better until tonight when I heard that we're going

[2:29:41] from 3 million a year to 10 million a year on this project.

[2:29:44] So when all the people call and say, what about

[2:29:48] Miro? What about Miro? There is a possibility their

[2:29:52] road is actually coming. So it's very exciting.

[2:29:54] And thank you for all the hard work. It's appreciated.

[2:29:57] Thank you, yes, it's not just one,

[2:30:01] it's annually from now on. Okay, I have others, I see Councillor

[2:30:05] Leduc, you have your hand up again? Oh, sorry,

[2:30:08] I have Councillor McIntosh and then I'll get Councillor Leduc

[2:30:13] after that. Councillor McIntosh? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'd like

[2:30:17] to start by saying thank you again for this report. It is a good news

[2:30:21] story and that the ward lines, the word map lines are

[2:30:25] just lines on a map. And I sleep in ward

[2:30:29] nine, but I shop, I work and I play all over the city.

[2:30:33] And I'm also really happy to see MR35 getting done because I have

[2:30:37] to drive it. I drive a lot of the roads. I'm on Lawrence Street,

[2:30:41] MR55, MR24. I've been talking about these roads and this is a good news story

[2:30:45] for everybody. It's not just about the roads

[2:30:50] in my ward. So my question through you to Mr.

[2:30:54] Vilko, none of the projects

[2:30:58] are being cancelled. There are no projects being cancelled.

[2:31:02] They are being rescoped and reprioritized. Could you tell

[2:31:07] us which, like, what you mean by rescoped and reprioritized? Everything,

[2:31:11] we've already approved the four year capital budget.

[2:31:14] You have to come to us

[2:31:18] to take anything off that list. It's on there now, it's not coming off.

[2:31:21] I am aware, so if you could just speak to,

[2:31:25] perhaps, you have a list here, but it didn't say in the report

[2:31:29] which ones are being rescopEd or reprioritized and which ones are finished, et cetera.

[2:31:33] Perhaps you could just speak to that first. Thank you.

[2:31:37] Thank you. Savilko? Yeah, through the mayor to the councillor, I can, definitely do that.

[2:31:41] So if I'm looking at appendix A and maybe starting from the

[2:31:46] bottom, the first one being large asphalt patch

[2:31:49] contract costs. So basically that is that 2.7

[2:31:54] million dollars was allocated for exactly what we're doing. So we're redistributing

[2:31:58] those funds, taking out of there and putting it in so

[2:32:05] that it's basically a net out, so 2.7 nets out. The next one above it,

[2:32:07] Second Avenue, Bancroft to Kenwood, that isn't being cancelled,

[2:32:13] it's just being reprioritized.

[2:32:18] There's some property acquisition that is required to complete that scope

[2:32:23] of work and without that property we're not prepared to proceed, so we're reprioritizing that

[2:32:26] to a future year. The work still needs to be done,

[2:32:30] it just it wouldn't get done this year given that property acquisition issue.

[2:32:35] So we highlighted that here and reprioritized the

[2:32:38] dollars that were allocated in 2026, recognising we'll,

[2:32:45] we'll do that in a future year. The next one up, the Garson

[2:32:49] Coniston, which is 5 and 1/2 million, we looked at. So the budget,

[2:32:54] if you refer to the budget, there's, there was 5 and 1/2 million allocated.

[2:32:57] For 2026 and another 8 million allocated in in 2027. And so having

[2:33:01] a new look at this road and

[2:33:05] what, what is required, we reviewed with the team and deemed that

[2:33:10] although that section of Road does need work,

[2:33:13] we thought we could get another year of it

[2:33:19] in its current state and tackle that with the

[2:33:24] $8 million that has been already budgeted for 2027. So again,

[2:33:28] freeing up those dollars this year while we postpone that work and utilise

[2:33:33] the $8 million in 2027. Working through the other

[2:33:37] values there, those are projects that either have

[2:33:43] been now deemed complete and we

[2:33:50] can reallocation of those funds because the projects

[2:33:54] are complete and they actually came in under budget. And there's a couple

[2:33:59] of them there that there's some contractual issues that again the money was

[2:34:03] being in held because of contracts were on hold and so we've just redistributed

[2:34:07] those dollars here. Thank you. Just in follow

[2:34:11] up to that, the ones that have not like the well,

[2:34:16] those two, number 12 and number 13, Garson Coniston Road and Second Avenue, they were

[2:34:21] in the budget. We budgeted back in 2023. You developed the

[2:34:25] budget for 2024 to 2027 in 2023. And I

[2:34:29] was speaking to the Mr.

[2:34:32] Racco about the adjustment from 13.5 million down

[2:34:36] to 8 million for Garson Coniston. And they said, well, they had

[2:34:41] to I don't think they use the word crystal ball, but I'll

[2:34:45] use the word crystal ball to determine what the cost is going to

[2:34:49] be four years from now. And of course that's going

[2:34:53] to happen. And I still would, the four-year capital planning is a good exercise.

[2:34:57] It is good for us to plan and to show the public what's

[2:35:01] coming over four years. That's what we decided three years ago.

[2:35:04] But this process that we're in now, and I guess my question question through you

[2:35:08] to Ms. Lichterman or Ms. Karpenko is our policy will be going forward to look

[2:35:10] at, even though we have a four-year budget, it's not

[2:35:15] set in stone and I hope

[2:35:19] that we will have a policy in place. We will revisit our

[2:35:22] capital budget on an annual basis. We're not going to find

[2:35:27] $21 million every year, but, you know, we will look at this on an annual

[2:35:29] basis to determine surpluses

[2:35:33] that need to pulled back into uncommitted reserves versus committed reserves. I think

[2:35:37] that was one of the questions earlier was about where the money came from

[2:35:42] and why was it sitting there. It was sitting in

[2:35:45] committed funds and now we're moving it over to uncommitted. It's not like the money

[2:35:49] was hiding somewhere. We're just reclassifying

[2:35:54] it so that we can use it for other things. I think that's a simple

[2:35:57] way to look at it. Yeah, so I guess if you

[2:36:02] could comment on that and the idea of a policy going

[2:36:06] forward on an annual basis, thank you. Thank you. Thank you through

[2:36:10] the mayor to Councillor McIntosh. So it has

[2:36:14] been the practice to do this annual review, however I will

[2:36:19] say our experience has been that,

[2:36:22] you know, the systems we have in place made this review very challenging, made it

[2:36:25] more difficult to keep up with the status of all of the capital projects.

[2:36:29] Part of the new budget software that you recently approved will

[2:36:34] allow us to track each project individually,

[2:36:38] have both finance and the operational teams have access to the project. And so

[2:36:42] it is my intention that internally we

[2:36:46] are actually doing a quarterly review checking in on

[2:36:50] all of these capital projects. But that we would do more like an annual or

[2:36:55] a biannual report out to council

[2:36:59] where, yes, we need your authority if we're going to

[2:37:03] move money around, if we're going to cancel a project,

[2:37:07] reprioritize things. And so it is our intention to

[2:37:12] bring that kind of transparency forward, and I think it will be

[2:37:16] done much more thoroughly and efficiently by leveraging the new system that we plan to

[2:37:19] put in place this

[2:37:25] year. Thank you. Okay, I got, do you want,

[2:37:29] to go before you? Okay, go ahead.

[2:37:32] Thank you. Just remembered my question.

[2:37:36] I wrote it down this time.

[2:37:40] Perfect. Good. We talk about how staff picks and staff picks and

[2:37:45] staff picks. So, but staff, if I'm

[2:37:54] has a policy guidance that council

[2:37:58] approved. So I'm just wondering if we can have

[2:38:02] staff confirm that they do have a specific policy that was

[2:38:06] council endorsed that they follow to do this selection of

[2:38:10] road afterwards. Thank you. Mr. Rocco. Mr. Rocco. And Joe through you, Mr. Mayor.

[2:38:14] Yes. 100% as a good engineer, I always rely on a scientific method

[2:38:19] because these are the difficult conversations we have about how to prioritize work.

[2:38:23] For road rehabilitation projects, we collect pavement condition data on a two-year basis.

[2:38:26] Every second year we collect pavement condition data. That helps us guide

[2:38:34] us to select not only

[2:38:39] what roads are in bad condition, but what roads are in a condition

[2:38:43] that should be worked on right now. If you recall back to our conversation about

[2:38:43] the Roads and Transportation Asset Management Plan, we had that nice colourful graph with the

City Council Meeting

Agenda

Transcript